It’s FEST WEEK! The New York Jets travel to Miami to play our Dolphins after being zebra-raped by the New England Patriots. The Jets, who were down in the 3rd QTR 21-14, scored on a 15 YD TD to pass from Josh McCown to TE Austin Sefarian Jenkins. After the customary replay on a scoring play, the replay officials overturned the TD stating ASJ fumbled the ball into the end zone, and which then resulted in a touchback and gave NE the ball at their 20 yard line. The play was ruled a TD on the field, and there was hardly enough evidence to overturn the score, but that’s just what they did. The Jets are angry, and have every right to be, so we better be ready for that.

While the Jets were losing to the Patriots, the Dolphins were in the process of one of their best comebacks in recent history, down 17-0 at halftime to the defending NFC champs, the Atlanta Falcons. Although Ajayi was running well in the 1st half, the Dolphins offense once again laid a goose egg in not only the 1st quarter, but the entire first half. I said on the blog that Gase MUST make a change, he can’t let this continue, Cutler just can’t get it done. In the 2nd half, Cutler did enough to get it done. Yeah, an INT was wiped out by a roughing the passer penalty, but Cutler played much better in the 2nd half, and helped the Dolphins win, along with an amazing effort by the defense, and good dose of the J-Train, 26 carries for 130 yards. Stills and Landry caught a TD pass each, and the unlikely comeback win in Atlanta actually happened. The Falcons were driving at the end of the game with a chance to either win with a TD, or tie with a FG, but a pass to TE Austin Hooper was deflected by rookie CB into the waiting arms of S Reshad Jones for a game ending INT. That sealed the win for the Dolphins who completed the stunning upset.

The Jets, who were supposed to a “Sham for Sam” have been a very competitive team. The Jets started off 0-2 losing to the Bills and Raiders, before dismantling our Dolphins 20-6 in week 3 at Met Life Stadium. An overtime win against the Jaguars, and a narrow escape (17-14) in Cleveland against the Browns had the Jets with 3 straight victories at 3-2. The tough loss to NE last week leaves them at 3-3. This is our revenge game, they beat us in their house, and it’s time to return the favor here in Miami. Besides, it’s FEST WEEK!

Division rivalries are always difficult games, they know us, we know them etc. If we’re going to make noise this year, we have to win this divisional game and conference game. It’s a must. Hopefully, Devante Parker will be healthy enough to make an impact, and give our offense a boost, and one of Jay Cutler’s favorite targets back. The defense is the real story though. If the defense keeps up the level of play, it’s going to be exciting. Expect a lot more J-Train, and hopefully enough by Cutler and the passing game to knock off the hated Jets.

Oh yeah, it’s FEST week! Looking forward to seeing all of you guys and gals that I’ve already met, and especially looking forward to meeting some new ones!

I hope one day we can have 100% attendance at a FEST, that would be phenomenal, but I understand realistically, that can’t happen. I hope everyone enjoys the game, and we come out of this week 4-2, and in the hunt!

Schad puts out his list of the best new names on the team. No wonder the D is better.

1 – William Hayes, defensive tackle, 32 — (Acquired via Trade from the Rams on March 10 for a sixth-round pick).
2 – Lawrence Timmons, linebacker, 31 — (Signed to a two-year, $12 million contract on March 10).
3 – Cordrea Tankersley, cornerback, 23 — (Drafted in the third round out of Clemson on April 28).
4 – Cody Parkey, kicker, 25 — (Signed as a free-agent on September 3).
Charles Harris, defensive end, 22 — (Drafted in the first round out of Missouri on April 27).
5 –T.J. McDonald, safety, 26 — (Signed as a free agent on March 31 ).
6 – Davon Godchaux, defensive tackle, 23 — (Drafted in the fifth round out of LSU on April 29).

How can he have a guy in there that hasn’t played in a game yet? And to put him above Godchaux, a guy who has a handful of impact plays? I understand the potential McDonald has once he’s through the suspension (and I’m excited to see him paired with Jones), but he literally hasn’t played a single snap. That is absurd.

I hope everyone has a good time this weekend doing things I don’t enjoy doing. lol
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Whats not to love with contracting Hepatitis C, skinning your elbow on the hotel furniture while you try to re-enact your favorite Zach Thomas TFL. Sounds like a great time!

Tim Knight says:
October 17, 2017 at 8:15 pm
M13, do you think Brad Kaaya is NFL starter material?
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Right now? No, but I do believe he can become NFL starter material in time. Kayaa certainly should have stayed for his senior year at the “U”… it would have benefited him. But that he didn’t, he’s going to be the type of QB that needs to be groomed for a bit, learning from a solid starter.

Kayaa is no sure thing (but what QB prospect really is?), but I’d sign him to our PS. I’ve got nothing personal against Doughty, but his arm isn’t going to get it done at the NFL level. I believe Kayaa’s arm is much, much better. JMO

Gotcha! I agree on Doughty. He might be an okay backup fill in temp kind of QB, but I don’t think he can be a starter either.

The one thing about developing QBs, teams don’t have a lot of time for it. These guys have to show something rather quickly or you move on. And developmental types don’t make good backups because they have no game experience. Failed starters make better backups because at least they’ve seen live bullets and have a body of work even if not at a high level. Kind of like Matt Moore.

M13, I’ve seen too many teams go with QBs who have too many flaws and when they have to play they look like they don’t belong and you’re basically gonna ruin your season with them. That’s why you see a lot of teams sign retreads who at least have run an offense in games. They may not play at a high level but they can at least be serviceable.

Rigel Spikes‏ @MF13SS 4s4 seconds ago
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Something that may only interest me: #Dolphins are 1 of only 8 teams in the league who are currently carrying a QB on their practice squad.
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There ya go, Tim. As you wisely stated, most teams don’t want to mess around developing a QB who is far away from seeing action. Stands to reason they want someone who is at least battle-tested in some way, shape, or form to be a backup.

Too little to do that. I’ve always had an issue with lopsided matchups because of money for the schools so the competition can be very bad. Then the lack of defense with too many teams turns me off. As you know I’m not a huge fan of spread offense. I like the mix of power run and play-action. It’s more unpredictable actually. We have no idea the pass play being setup off the run. You can predict spread plays pretty easily and in college the scores are out of control. I’m not into 63-45 or definitely not 70-0.

I understand you get more contested matchups than that, but only when the top teams play each other.

Phillips has dominant talent. I don’t think he’s lazy and not so into it, I just think it’s his natural demeanor that he doesn’t get fired up all the time. Suh isn’t like that either he just happens to be elite.

Agreed, but Phillips had better start making some noise and soon. Suh commands double and occasional triple-teams. There’s no reason why Phillips can’t eat off that plate… especially with MR. Wake firing off the edge, commanding double-teams as well.

Phillips possesses ELITE talent, but we’re not yet seeing it on a consistent basis. I’m pulling for him!

Tim Knight says:
October 18, 2017 at 8:54 pm
Dude he just played a very good game and was a force after missing 2 games with an ankle. The article you posted was saying that…
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I’m just saying it’s Phillips’ 3rd year now, and his 3rd season lined up next to Suh. He’d BETTER be showing something by now as a 2nd Round draft pick (he’s late to the party).

Suh went All-Pro in his rookie season while Phillips still needs to be motivated by Godchaux being listed ahead of him earlier in the year.

Don’t take me the wrong way, Tim… I’m REALLY rooting for Phillips, man!!! It’s time for him to SHINE now!!!

All I’m saying is he has been playing well this season. He missed some games with an ankle. He played very well last game.

Godchaux being listed ahead of him earlier in the year maybe should be viewed as a positive for Godchaux and not a negative on Phillips. Players outperform others and win jobs. We have a very good defense and still growing.

Yessir! Our Defense is VASTLY improved from last year. Our intentions going into ’17 was to KILL the run… and KILLED it we have. MAJOR strides have been made there, and it’s saving our weak-azz Offensive output.

No matter how ya slice it, we’re going to have to make some SERIOUS biz decisions next year with our roster vs the cap. And if ya think it’s SO easy to just restructure a player(s)… ya don’t know the biz.

But for the sake of this exercise, go ahead… restructure Suh and Suh ONLY. And IF that’s not good enough for ya, go ahead and restructure Tannehill as well.

One of the best pieces on this team have read in a while. Not surprised it came from a guy with the handle dolphinfan4lyfe. And will spoiler his ending.
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“As fans, we set certain expectations for the team, I am here to say if you continue to do so, you will be sorely disappointed. Early and often. My advice? Take a step back, stop looking at certain spots and enjoy the beauty of its ugliness. Otherwise you might miss out on what is seemingly a magical carpet ride fit for a rollercoaster built for all ages.”

We’re 3-2 and in the mix with most teams in the AFC, so why are we concerned with the cap in 2018? There are many ways to create cap space. We need to let the season play out before we know how that will get done.

Armando Salguero‏Verified account @ArmandoSalguero 40m40 minutes ago
Mike Pouncey has obviously made progress in concussion protocol as he’s on the field today for first time. Not practicing but moving.

Not that wasn’t loving Matt Burke with the ZZ Top Terminator look and the D performance before……but mancrush now confirmed with this to the reporter group. Wonder if he was looking at O while he said it. 🙂

“God bless you guys. I’m sure you’re all really good at what you do but I don’t read any of your stuff.”

The Flying Pig says:
October 19, 2017 at 10:07 am
Maxwell and Pouncey get you to 14m under cap
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We can’t go into the season with only 40 players, guys. What’s more, Jarvis Landry may cost us around $14M alone. Are you really going to let William Hayes hit FA? Who is going to be our backup QB being Matt Moore is set to become a FA?

Indeed! But let us also realize that our in-season play is going to dictate who stays and who goes next year. 😉

I realize it’s a bit early to talk about these kinds of things, but you’d better believe that our FO is keeping tabs on our players as we speak, week-in and week-out… and that’s why they’ve been ahead of the curve in recent years.

The trade deadline is right around the corner… it may be wise to make a move or two if we can what with our current and future cap situations. And NO… we’re not trading Jarvis! LOL 😉

That’s what I meant. The season will dictate where players are at and how injured players are progressing and then devise the plan. We’re so far away from that right now. Not telling you what to talk about but why not focus on the current team. Not sure what we’ll do at the trading deadline but we already made one with Anthony for a 2018 5th rd pick.

Tim Knight says:
October 19, 2017 at 7:14 pm
…Not telling you what to talk about but why not focus on the current team…
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LOL, I was just going to say that I’m just making football convo… don’t take anything I’m saying too deeply.

As for our current team, all I/we can do is sit back and watch. Our Defense is close to what I thought it would be, but our Offense is FAR from what I thought it would be (see my thoughts on Cutler).

The defense has exceeded my expectations and the offense has been disappointing to say the least. All we can do is hope they improve as the season goes on. 3-2 is solid territory. Gotta split with the Jets.

The Jets defensive front will give us a good test for our OL and run game. We have to run it against them or they’ll blitz the pass all day like last time. I see our defense keeping them manageable at worst. I’d be shocked if this game isn’t on the offense to simply score at least moderate points. LOL

I’m still at a TOTAL loss as to how we allowed a then 0-2 stej team to smash our faces in, beating us 20-6 in week 3. SMMFH

Gotta get Ajayi kicking azz (our O-Line is coming off a GOOD week, perhaps finally gelling), Timmons and Maualuga should help us this time around (we were without both in week 3), and our Secondary (looking at VERNER, in particular) had better not make the same mistakes they did in week 3 to Josh McCown.

Dante Hall ( “X-Factor” ) only ever made the All-Pro team once and Pro-Bowl twice in his very illustrative STs career of 9 years.

Yes, I expected more out of Cordarrelle from the WR position at this point in time. He fell out early with Norv in Minny early, and now he’s got a new life in Oaktown with Derek Carr. Let’s see how it all pans out.

REMEMBER, there’s a third phase to the game: STs. Do NOT make Darren Rizzi destroy you, Tim! 😉

He ran in off the bench bc peters hit Carr late to fight for Carr
The whole Oakland team confronted Peters
And lynch came in off the bench and ran directly into Peters
When a ref tried to seperate him he pushed the ref off

It was stupid by Lynch
He wil be suspended by the NFL and that’s all they can do
But it has nothing to do with the anthem…that is the weirdest interpretation I’ve seen of it

It’s just a fight between 2 teams that hate each other
And Lynch did 2 big no-no
Run off the bench and push a ref

Hey Festers, hope you have a great time (guaranteed) and get to see a great game (anyone’s guess). I got to see the Dlphins. Hope our O turns up for this Jets game and we get some much needed revenge to keep the winning record up. Cheers.

People still politicizing the anthem, lol SMH. And passing out forever hall cards and kissing orange ass for the gold star family hating , but had a bone spur in Vietnam, and was trying to avoid venereal disease for his own personal Vietnam.
Don’t get mad at me, I didn’t say these Vietnam things, HE DID, lol

It’s like I haven’t even been gone a week. SMH,
It’s Amazing the standards were lowered for this snake, and no one expects America To be Great Again til he’s gone

So Lynch protected the other team’s player from his own teammates? Im kinda confused. I didnt get to watch the game, or at least much of it because i was in so much pain from a back injury i took my medicine (i usually try to push through the pain) and it knocked me the hell out. I know its not about protecting a fellow protester, that seems silly even without more information.

M13, i was actually thinking about you when i was watching the early art of the game, specifically about your love of Amerson, and to be honest, the first quarter at least he played decent, he made a couple of really nice pass defenses. Sounds like that might have changed though towards the end of the game from your comments above.

David, dude you have a good heart i can tell, but you get a little crazy with your political rhetoric, and i don’t mean the side of the street your political views are on, just the very crazy connect the dots diagram you build every time you make a political argument. Its extremely hard to keep track of, and trust me i am trying.

Maybe stop, breathe, think it out a little better, and then post and hopefully it will come out a little better and then maybe people would get your point. Hell maybe you could affect their particular views, not likely but it would definitely stand a better chance.

Hitting a ref is probably going to be a big ass fine and a decently long suspension, thats one of those “set an example” kind of punishment points, so other players get a real dose of potential consequence, if they are thinking about repeating that behavior.

Leaving the bench to get in a fray, thats gonna cost some too but not nearly as much as putting hands on the ref.

I sure hope they dont rush Bridgewater back, not even slightly, and i hope they dont let him rush himself back. Its amazing at all that he will still have a career after the shit i read about his injury, anything that would jeopardize him having a chance to have a successful long term return should be completely off the table. They can get by on what they have, and if they have to settle for a bleh season to set up his future, thats what they need to do. It really feels like he is pushing too hard to make it a this season return and i think thats pretty dangerous.

Wow, Mike Reiss is a big time homer, even more so than a lot of the other ESPN beat writers. Reiss predicted the pats to beat the Falcons 41-27, even though their wins this year have only been by an average margin of around 7, and that’s if you give them the 7 point margin they got beating the Jets on a controversial call that cost them at least 4 points, and against a Saints team that at that time has still not gotten their secondary with 2 rookies up to speed yet. The Falcons beat write has it at 28-24 as a point of homer-ism reflection lol. Jesus, even their fucking writers have God complexes. Whats weirder is his justification for that score prediction, sounded more like he was predicting a 28-24 Pats win prediction, not the 2 TD advantage he put down as a score.

“I just know that wherever the ball is, he’s not far behind it. He’s got great instincts.” — Gase on TImmons pass coverage. And I’ll be the first to admit thought he’d be exclusively a run-thumping MLB for us in the base at least.

His cousin is Peters the DB on the Chiefs and he hits Carr late. A couple of Raider OL start going after Peters. Lynch runs on to the field to get to Peters but ref intercepts him. He grabs the ref to try to move him aside so he can get to Peters. He didn’t hit the ref or anybody but he did grab him

Armando Salguero‏Verified account @ArmandoSalguero 10m10 minutes ago
Mike Pouncey practiced full today. Still has to be cleared by independent neurological consultant before he can play. But looks good.

I HAVEN’T SEEN ANY predictions from you festers on the game, altho’ I may have missed them further up the page. There will be NO PREDICTIONS from the Old Dolfan, mostly because I do not have a strong idea on this game’s outcome. But I DO KNOW THIS: TODD BOWLES WILL HAVE HIS TEAM READY TO PLAY, BET YOUR ASS ON THAT!!! Miami will need to play BOTH HALVES like they did the second half in Atlanta to win. IS THAT ASKING TOO MUCH OF THIS TEAM?? WE SHALL SEE!!!

BRIAN: I’ll bring the tix and parking pass to Dave & Buster’s tomorrow night. If you DON’T need the parking pass, we’ll give it to someone who needs one. All you guyz & gals from the north are going to need sun tan lotion for this game!! Looks like only a 20% chance of rain and a ZERO % chance of a hurricane!! See all of you tomorrow night!!

It’s THE JETS AND THE DOLPHINS!! – – THAT’S ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW!! – – GO FINS!!

Ken says:
October 20, 2017 at 8:50 am
Lynch did come out to protect Peters but not because he was a “fellow kneeler” but because they are cousins and extremely close friends.
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I did NOT realize this before today and you are quite correct, Ken. This obviously explains why Marshawn was so adamant about protecting Peters last night.

STILL REMINISCING about last year’s memorable FEST game, Buffalo @ Miami. DOWN 11 points in the 3rd quarter, Tanny and Ajayi rallied the troops to a memorable fourth quarter come from behind victory!! That long bomb to Kenny Stills was EPIC!!

But the NFL better get a better hold of their game or they’re going to lose it. People want to watch football – not politics, personal issues and defiance. Enough already!!! Football is not the platform for it. Sports in general are not. Go address it in a real manner as opposed to the nonsense. It’s turning people off and the message is not making progress other than the NFL and the CBA trying to keep the dollars good. I see a total fallacy here.

I’m not sure how some feel I was making a political statement with my observation of both Marshawn and Peters being “fellow kneelers”. What, did nobody realize that they both kneel every time the National Anthem is played/performed? That’s an observation, not a political statement, SMH. Spare me the bush-league nonsense.

The only political statement made is BY the kneelers. And if we don’t recognize that they’re kneeling, they’re not bringing enough attention to the political statement they’re kneeling for.

Did I think that perhaps Marshawn and Peters became tight due to a commonality of social justice? Certainly! Commonalities bring people TOGETHER (hence, this site: we LOVE our PHINS!!!). However, I didn’t realize they were close cousins.

You’ve gotta admit… it was WEIRD that Marshawn wasn’t defending his QB (Derek Carr), who got hit HARD in the head with a late hit by Peters. The BIG UGLIES on the O-Line certainly did what they should have done… they DEFENDED their QB — who is still recovering from a severe back injury — by merely giving Peters an earful. What did Marshawn do? Well… the rest is history.

If I was Del Rio, I’d outright CUT Marshawn Lynch for that BS. He cost his team in the moment, he will be suspended (can’t help your team when you’re suspended), he threw Derek Carr under the bus by his actions, and he put his hands on an official in the process. Really nice role model, folks.

Adam Schefter‏Verified account @AdamSchefter 18m18 minutes ago
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Raiders RB Marshawn Lynch already has appealed his one-game suspension for physical contact of official, per source.
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How can he appeal this?!! Why would he appeal this?!! He was caught on camera!!!

D says:
October 20, 2017 at 10:54 am
M13, i was actually thinking about you when i was watching the early art of the game, specifically about your love of Amerson, and to be honest, the first quarter at least he played decent, he made a couple of really nice pass defenses. Sounds like that might have changed though towards the end of the game from your comments above.
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Man… Amerson gets SO hot and then runs SO cold. He was doing so well early last night, then he fell off a cliff. I maintain (ever since 2012) that he should be moved to Safety.

I’m not going to say anything about the anthem protests. But I do find it annoying that the media, who always used to have commercials during the anthem, never showed it on TV as I recall, suddenly have cameras all over the sidelines to show who isn’t standing. They aren’t even showing it for patriotism. It’s just to show the controversy.

HERD; YOUR MARSHALL football team looked like the best team in Conference USA last night at Middle Tennessee. Tonight, North Texas (3-0 in conference) plays at FAU (2-0 in conference, starting at 6:00 PM in Boca Raton. I gave up this homecoming game to be with “THE FESTERS” at D & B’s tonight instead!! I’ll be heading out in a few minutes. SEE Y’all around 6 PM, if the gators don’t get me on Alligator Alley!!! – – GOO-O-O-O FINS!!